Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lock and a home appliance having the same.
Discussion of the Related Art
In general, conventional apparatuses having doors, including home appliances, each include a cabinet, a storage space defined in the cabinet for receiving objects to be stored, and a door for opening and closing an introduction port communicating with the storage space.
The door is separably fixed to the cabinet via a lock. In general, a conventional lock includes a holder provided at the door and a coupling unit provided at the cabinet, the holder being separably coupled to the coupling unit.
The conventional lock having the above structure is designed such that force necessary to fix the door to the cabinet (i.e. force necessary to couple the holder to the coupling unit) and force necessary to separate the door from the cabinet (i.e. force necessary to separate the holder from the coupling unit) are the same.
In addition, in a home appliance (e.g. a dishwasher, a washer, or a dryer) in which the pressure in the storage space may be increased during operation thereof, the lock must be designed to provide sufficient fastening force to prevent the door from being separated from the cabinet even when the pressure in the space communicating with the introduction port is increased.
In the case in which the conventional lock provides sufficient fastening force to prevent the door from being separated from the cabinet during operation of the home appliance, it is possible to prevent the door from being opened, and thus prevent the introduction port from being opened, during the operation of the home appliance. When the holder is coupled to the coupling unit to close the introduction port, however, a user must apply excessive force to the door.